


Fragmented

by anxiousartichoke



Category: OneShot (Video Game)
Genre: A WHOLE LOT OF PINING, F/M, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Reader Is Not God, Reader is gender neutral, Solstice Spoilers, Time Travel AU, a moderate to fast burn, awkward friendship crushes, lots of time/coding shenanigans, normal life and death situations, plight has cool powers, reader is SUPER OBLIVIOUS, the plot will start in chapter 2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-18 19:07:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14219784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxiousartichoke/pseuds/anxiousartichoke
Summary: It's said everyone who learns the truth about the World is never seen again. What happens when that person hasn't been found yet? What happens when that person just uses exploits in their own code to work even harder?





	Fragmented

You came home from work for the first time in a few days. Stepping into the common room of your apartment complex, it was empty. The phosphor in the lights was getting low. You had the odd sensation of not being quite alone in the space, and decided to make some tea and scuttle back as soon as possible. Something scratched at the western door, but you chalked it up to being exhausted. Five days of nothing but staring at the purple screens of access terminals _probably_ made people a little insane. Certain in your rationalization, you set your mug on your nightstand, and collapsed in bed.

Was there anything better than a good night’s rest?

Unfortunately, you wouldn’t know. At some odd hour there was a knock at your door. No alarms were going off, so it wasn’t an emergency… You groaned and glanced at your clock. 3AM. Your mouth tasted like morning. You were unhappy with the development of things already, but then they knocked again. You realized you fell asleep in your lab coat, and just answered the door as-is. You were greeted by a familiar face. You wanted to be bitter about it, but the hurt expression of the lamplighter cleared any anger you had at being woken up.

“Yo,” the boy said awkwardly, adjusting his hat. He looked like he’d been mid-existential crisis for hours. His voice was a low, tired growl. 

“Did something happen, Plight?”

He stepped inside. “No, it’s fine. But, uhh, can I, ah, crash here for tonight? For… reasons?”

You hoped you could get across with just a glance that you could physically _feel_ your mortal soul leaving your body. It seemed you did; he looked back at the still-open door as if he were prepared to run out of it. “I don’t mind. But please -- is everything okay?” You got to finding a spare blanket and some pillows amidst the mess of your living space.

“Yeah, it’s all good, It's been a… Night, s’all. Y’know how it is.” He hung up his heavy coat and scarf to reveal grey, striped pajamas before laying down on the couch. It was much too small for him, made apparent as his legs draped over the armrest, but he smiled at the ceiling. Eyes closed and not a care in the world. You tossed a quilt over him, electing to sit on the floor in front of him.

“Usually when things are ‘all good,’ you don’t show up to my apartment looking like you’ve seen a ghost and ask to spend the night. Besides, you haven’t called me in weeks!! I’ve missed you!”

He pouted, placing a hand on your head. “Okay, you got me there. So maybe I was having some nightmares again. And maybe I didn’t know where else to go since I… didn’t really feel comfortable by myself. But I feel better about it already and we’re not going to talk about it.”

“I feel like we _really should--_ ”

“Nope. Not going to talk about it. How’s work been? I heard you got a promotion. It’s been same as usual for me. I feel like I’m split everywhere at once these days, heh.” The amount of effort that was going into changing the subject was… painful, to say the least. You rolled with it anyways. For him.

“I’m project manager for the worker bots now, which is a lot closer to what I wanted to do initially. I’m getting there, though. I can’t wait for the day my own designs and functions are out there.” You stared out the window. “However, my team has, like, three other people on it _maximum_ and I’m the only one who doesn’t mind overtime. Like, five days of overtime. God, it’s kind of awful.”

“She really is a slave driver, huh? We’re in the same boat now.” He sighed and rolled over, finally removing his hand from your hair. You wished he'd put it back.

“It’s understandable. A lot needs to be done, with the Author disappearing like he did. People are going missing, crime is at an all time high. We don’t have a sun anymore. Hell, I’m surprised things aren’t _worse_ than they already are. We need more scientists than ever but, there’s a… small problem with that.” You hung your head.

“Nobody wants to be one because the conditions are awful?”

You huffed. “Conditions are awful because there’s, like, no scientists!! If we didn’t have to triple up on things, we might get so much more done.”

“That’s the problem I’m having, too. There’s one of me, and a few lamp bots, but there isn’t enough time to do everything in a day.” He sighed.

“But, when everything’s bad, we have to keep _some_ hope, right? Every step we take today is towards tomorrow being a little better, a little safer. Sometimes that thought’s all I need.” You turned and smiled at the lamplighter, who quickly turned away and covered his face with his blanket. “Pliiiiiiiiiight. You’re a nerd.”

“You’re _paid_ to be a nerd and you’re calling _me_ one?” He sounded disgruntled, but he was giggling a bit. This seemed like a challenge.

“Only nerds hide their faces when they get so much as _smiled at._ These are the facts. I’m a professional and all.” You crossed your arms.

He popped out of the blanket, readjusting his position again so he was propped up by his elbow. “Pal. Friend. Buddy. I can kill you in two words.” 

“Prove it.”

“You’re cute.”

“Uh--” _Goddammit._ You instinctively went to cover up, but instead you elected to stare at him blankly while your face burned. He had a dumb smirk you _so_ wished you could wipe off. “T-try harder.”

“Okay. Our friendship means more to me than I can properly… Um.” He looked around the room with bewildered eyes, as if he’d find the word written on the ceiling. 

“Articulate?”

“Yeah, that. And I think about you alot. And nobody else knows what I mean as well as you do. And even though I don’t really understand it, I like listening to you talk about computers and stuff. And I’m glad that even with our god awful schedules you find time for me. Should I go on?”

You raised a hand as if to argue, but instead decided to flip your lab coat so it was over your face. “...No you.”

“Giving up already?”

You took a deep breath, and collected your thoughts. “And you? You do a lot! And I treasure every day I get to spend with you! And I’m glad you put up with me! And that you put all your trust in me! You’re the coolest person I know!” 

“Wait, _you’re_ the coolest person _I know_ and we can’t _both_ be the coolest I’m pretty sure that’s against the rules--” 

The argument of who could be nicer to the other continued to escalate until you were both standing, red-faced, and out of breath. This was such a common occurrence you almost had a checklist of compliments and happy observations for the other. Most of your friendship was built off of that alone, all things considered. You came from different ends of the spectrum and weren’t really sure how you even _met_ anymore -- it was like you were always a pair. But that was it -- _you were just friends._ Even if people had some weird misconceptions about the truth of that.

But, it was almost 6AM and it was _definitely_ time to get some rest. You ended up falling asleep with your head on the sofa, awkwardly sitting against it, part of the quilt over you. It wasn’t comfortable but you were too tired to move. You stayed like that until well past noon, waking to being gently shaken.

“It’s, like, late, c’mon--” He sounded like the situation was life or death.

“Huh?” You looked up at him, bleary eyed, dead inside.

“I’m _suuuuuper_ dead at how late I am right now but I didn’t want you to wake up by yourself or leave without saying goodbye and. Yeah.” He took a breath. You slowly stood up and more or less fell into him for a hug. The way his heart was beating, it seemed oversleeping _was, in fact,_ the worst thing that could happen to him. You steadied yourself and let go of him, and he bolted for the door.

“It was nice to see you!! And remember to call me sometime, okay?”

“Of course--” He grabbed his coat and was already halfway out before he finished his thought. “Thank you for having me despite my nonsense and Iloveyou-- Wait-- F… iddlesticks.” 

“...What?” You thought you heard him properly but you weren’t sure, and he already disappeared down the corridor before it registered. It also occurred to you that he forgot his scarf. You grabbed it and chased after him, only to find by time you reached him, you were standing back in your doorway. You were still hugging him. Despite the fact you were _very clearly past the moment._

You blinked up at him, and then at the door, and _then_ at the fact he was _already wearing_ his scarf, which you were _certain you were just holding._ “Um?”

“Um, what? I said thanks for having me over. It means alot.” Whatever happened, he played it off smooth enough.

“...Okaaaaay then. It’s not a problem???” You were dizzy.

“See you around.” With a halfhearted wave, he turned and left, closing the door behind him. You sat right there on the floor and kept trying to think about how that played out in all of its rushedness, but you couldn’t. It hurt your head and each time you replayed it over, it got fuzzier and fuzzier.

You decided you were going to ignore it, like a _normal person,_ and just ask him about it later.

**Author's Note:**

> feedback fuels updates! :3c  
> you can feel free to ask about future chapters on my tumblr - http://soulicide.tumblr.com/


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